Timeline

2016

We have submitted funding applications for For the Love of It! for the next 3 years which will enable us to have more long term planning – the competition is fierce so fingers crossed. For the Love of It 2016 is coming up at The Watershed, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield.

We are planning to submit a more extensive funding application to develop the Reframe The Streets model with key partners across the UK and Ireland, so watch this space…

2015

NASA UK received a grant from Arts Council England with further support from Bristol City council to run 3 professional development projects. We worked with a Project Manager (Kim Tilbrook) for the first time, who oversaw all the projects and undertook some rebranding.

39 artists from 17 companies took part in For the Love Of It! at the 101 Creation Space in Newbury in March. Guests included Marisa Carnesky and Robert Schiller from Theater Titanic (Germany). Thanks again to Chris Squire for all his hard work in making this happen and to Jeremy Shine, the best of chefs.

39 artists aged between 23 and 64 came together for The Outdoor Arts Lab: Words and Stories in the Great Outdoors in October. This was a 5-day intensive residential course at the end of the season, looking towards the future. It focussed on ways to writing and narrative structures in outdoors arts: how does taking the perspective of the writer or thinking about language first affect the way we work?

We worked with 2 writers who reviewed 18 shows at 3 festivals over the course of the summer as part of our pilot project Reframe The Streets. We are now hope to work with Creative Scotland, Articulture (Wales) and ISACS (Ireland) and ISAN to improve the model and provide artistic mentoring and debates around styles of work and themes.

2014

Garth Williams (Safety Catch) produced a wonderful Yearbook, showcasing members and their current projects.

Tony Lidington (Prom Prom) worked hard to get funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support an Outdoor Arts Archive. He managed to get some great partners on board including the University of Winchester, the University of the Bristol and The Victoria and Albert Museum but unfortunately, after months of planning, the application was turned down. Winchester University are still keen to go ahead, but we need to think how to make the plans more outward facing.

Roger Hartley (Bureau of Silly Ideas) was in continued conversation with Railtrack and other local companies to test the feasibility of an Outdoor Arts creation space in Brixton. Some young companies including Molly Orange and Bread and Goose have been sharing space at the arches, more to follow…

Bev Adams conducted a survey about Commissioning – this has been a concern from members this year with small pots of money on offer and diminishing opportunities. These concerns were shared with ISAN and other key stakeholders.

2013

Jules Howarth produced a fabulous Members Yearbook and updated the website, including an interactive online map where you can see at a glance where we are all located.

We held For The Love Of It at the College Project in Bristol, in partnership with Chris Squire from Impossible Arts and Jeremy Shine from MIA. It was a brilliant skills-sharing weekend, with a wide range of artists with a range of experiences and interests.

Roger Hartley (Bureau of Silly Ideas) has been working to scope out the potential for a national outdoor arts creation space at Silly Towers in Brixton, which could become a home for NASA UK. The company is based in a railway arches in Brixton and Roger has been in conversation with Railtrack to test the feasibility. The area is at the centre of a large development and Roger and Paschale Straiton (Red Herring) did some work on how to convince funders to back such a hair-brained scheme.

This year celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first custard pie fight to be depicted on celluloid: in the film ‘Noise from the Deep’ Mabel Normand throws a pie at Fatty Arbuckle.

2012

NASA UK received funding towards the organisational development of NASA 2012-2014. This focused on advocating for members, including manning tables which showcase their projects at Festivals and other events across the UK; exploring the potential for a national outdoor arts creation centre in London and an archive project.

We supported Chris Squire from Impossible Arts to run For The Love Of It 2012 at the Lanternhouse in Ulverston, with the NASA UK AGM taking place on 11th March.

A Members Meeting was held on 1st Sept at Mintfest. This included an informal discussion on Pan European Street Arts training models/collaborations with our guest: Aurelie Labouesse: Secretary General Delegate for Education: FAiAR Federation of Advanced Itinerant Street Arts) and members and SG meeting.

2011

Main Events – historical

2009-2010

Mainline

A 3 year project aiming to foster critical debate within the street arts sector through regular focussed gatherings and a series of articles and essays commissioned from within and outside the NASA membership

Regional Gatherings

A chance to congregate, speculate and re-invigorate; catch up with old friends, make new ones, chew the fat and build the bridges that could lead to successful future collaborations and partnerships. Dates TBC planned for London, Lakes and Yorkshire

Website

Resdesign and Update

Membership

Refresh

Northern Gathering

Members meeting aboard Lapinta, Salford

For the Love of it

Northern get-together with open space, presentation about collaboration and curry. Jan 2010, the Watershed, Slaithwaite

Strategic networking

Mission Control meeting and networking at Lakes Alive. September 2010 Kendal Mission Control strategy meetings with ISAN, XTRAX, KAI at and ISAN and membership drive at Fools Paradise Showcase. March 2010 Kendal

2007-2009

Training & Development for Street Artists

A 2 year arts council funded project, delivering a seminars for Street Artists on marketing and international touring and resulting in NASA collaborating with ISAN to create a Training and Development report (make a link)

2006

Arts Council Advocacy

At the end of 2006, NASA and ISAN jointly wrote a letter and met with Peter Hewitt, Director of ACE, outlining the case for increased investment in our sector as a whole. As part of this, a list of priorities for investment was drawn up following discussions within both organisations. These are as follows:

Innovation and ambition in street arts projects.

Increasing the number of properly funded companies and organisations creating work.

Strengthening the touring network (festivals) to provide a secure platform for such work.

Establishing permanent work spaces and production resources for the development of new work.

Creating opportunities for professional development, particularly artist-led initiatives and those supporting emerging artists.

Initiatives developing and promoting street arts work led by culturally diverse artists and by deaf and disabled artists.

Initiatives aimed at making street arts events more accessible to disabled audiences.

Support for key organisations and events which promote the development of the sector on a national and international level.

The convocation

Overnight gathering of members at Lanternhouse, Ulverston. NASA is named and much merriment is had!